San Francisco Intnl Airport, CA

In another case of put your money where your hybrid is, San Francisco via Mayor Newsom just launched a green hybrid car rental program at San Francisco International Airport. So, after flying in with a heavy carbon footprint, car renters will be able lighten their footprint and fatten their wallet somewhat by taking advantage of this new hybrid program. Customers who rent hybrid cars that get an EPA rating of at least 18 will receive a $15 discount at the counter. Cars in this category include the Honda Civic Hybrid, Nissan Altima Hybrid or Toyota Prius. Fifteen bones won’t go so far in this City but the discount will bring hybrid rental prices down closer to normally fully polluting cars as well as some green awareness.

This program will save those green corporate bean counters money as airport rental car companies will qualify for a 20 percent reduction of their airport rent fees if they achieve a goal of increasing the percentage of their overall transactions to 15 percent for rentals of hybrid cars or high mileage vehicles – those with an EPA rating of 17 or higher. Cars in this category include the Toyota Camry, Honda Accord and Ford Focus, as well as the hybrid cars.

SFO hopes that these incentives will increase the total number of high mileage and hybrid cars in the rental fleet to more than 15 percent.

We’re not going to say that this hybrid discount calls for a rousing ovation. Hybrids might be better than conventional vehicles but the idea is to get people out of their cars (hybrids or not). We’d rather see the airport promote BART to and from the airport. It’s an economical ($5.35), fast and convenient ride to SF proper. Maybe the City can reward travelers with a mass transit discount?

At first we had to laugh when we got wind (a tailwind no doubt) of how Emirates Airlines Launches San Francisco Service With World’s Longest Green Flight Trial. Even in their posh business class that’s a long flight and lot of CO2 going into the air. But what’s with the Green aspect? Are they going to sell us carbon credits during the in-flight service? We’ll have two organic gin martinis and 20,000 carbon credits please.

Before we totally write this off as greenwashing, we took a look at their green flight. Emirates created what they call “the most environmentally-sophisticated route and trip possible to help save an estimated 2,000 gallons of fuel and 30,000 pounds of carbon emissions on the 16-hour non-stop service.” The airlines worked with various countries to create a route that heads over Dubai, Russia, Iceland, Canada and the United States and other countries. Maybe these guys should work for the UN. We’ll buy the distance thing. Shorter distance, less fuel, less CO2.

Besides the flight route, Emirates has created several fuel and emission-saving measures such as the new 777-200LR will be specially washed beforehand to minimize drag.

We’re not aerodynamics experts but does washing a plane make that much of a difference toward fuel economy? Think of the precious water use (unless they use graywater) necessary to clean the jet.

The new 777-200LR operates at a 20% better clip when compared to the Air Bus 340-500, so that represents an immediate and tangible green plus.

Emirates also collects all on-board glass, newspapers, aluminum and paper for recycling. Commendable. It’s what happens after the flight that worries us. We have heard but have not yet confirmed that one US carrier that flies international routes collects recycling while in-flight but then the recyclables get burned because the cans and bottles came via an international flight. We wouldn’t want to recycle those cans from Mexico or Canada would we? Maybe the bottles didn't have there visas?

A lot of the other green factors have to do with routing, wind currents and air traffic management. That all makes sense but don’t all carriers do this? Maybe they don’t. Maybe some airline pilots fly directly into headwinds just for kicks.

Because the flight just kicked off a couple weeks ago, we’ll give it chance to see what the green savings are. It’s going to be difficult to convince us that jumping on a plane and flying half way around the world even remotely resembles anything green but if you gotta go you gotta go.

The saying “Up, up and away” used to bring excitement for air travelers but certainly not for travelers who wanted to reduce their carbon footprint. We have not noticed any plug in hybrid 747s buzzing through the skies yet, so what can a carbon conscious air traveler do? We know that some airlines now offer carbon offsets but they often offer no verification and it only seems to be a marketing ploy.

All the details have not been hammered out but likely beginning in the spring, travelers flying out of San Francisco International Airport (SFO) will be able to minimize the impact of their air travel (and their guilt) by buying certified carbon offsets at airport kiosks. We know what you’re thinking, those carbon offsets especially here in the U.S. just end up as subsidies to various green entrepreneurs. The difference here would be that San Francisco based 3Degrees will offer more creditability to the program. To us, the difference can be seen as 3Degrees sources VERs (Verified Emission Reductions) that they source from specific projects that result in real, quantifiable, permanent greenhouse gas emission reductions and offer credible and transparent third-party verification standards such as Gold Standard, Green-e Climate and California Climate Action Registry (CCAR)

We understand that these carbon kiosks would resemble the self service airline check-in stations where a traveler would punch in his or her destination. The machine would calculate the carbon footprint and the cost to offset the damage done by the airline flight. With the swipe of a credit card the traveler could help save the planet and receive a printed receipt listing the specific projects that the money benefits.

We don’t enjoy the restrictions, fees and hassles associated with flying but at least if this plan goes though that we can at least not feel too guilty about being jet-setters.